This week’s show has a theological term in its title that sounds obscure, even impenetrable: “Monsters We Love: TV’s Pop Culture Theodicy.” Depending on your view of an omnipotent God, it could be both. ”Theodicy” attempts to answer ancient questions like, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” and “If God is good, why does evil exist?”

The television shows mentioned in “Monsters We Love” are filled with “amoral zombies” and “loving vampires” and “righteous serial killers,” as Krista Tippett puts it. At the core of this theodicy is the question of what makes “good” people different from characters we can register instantly as “evil.”

What is it about watching the moral failing of others that draws millions of viewers to these TV shows? Maybe it has nothing to do with their final choices or even their failings. For me, it’s empathy for seeing someone else struggle between choices of good and evil in situations where it’s not clear to me how free their will actually is.

Reflections

I am suprised no one has made a comment. From my Lutheran perspective, I have been taught (and forgive me if I am explaining this incorrectly) that evil entered the world when Adam and Eve ate the apple. They were in paradise, but wanted knowledge, and with acess to knowledge came the ability of satan to enter our world.God will help us fight Satan's desire to rule us, but God and Satan are always in a battle to rule us. When we pray or read holy texts we are protected from Satan. It's worked for me!

I agree with Agustine in passing the buck to humanity as ultimately being responsible for our moral choices. It is too easy to blame evil on things like demons, the devil, and even god... using something outside ourselves as scapegoats in order to make sense of atrocity. However, if evil does come from a failure to "exercise moral responsibility" then the power to overcome this lapse must come from humanity as well. "Good" is just as much of an act of will and this makes it that much more rewarding because it is something we DO rather than something that is given to us. Sartre says that "man (humanity) is condemned to be free," and maybe this is because we hold the keys to both good and evil and it is a tremendous burden to bare.

We solve the "problem of evil" by removing the "power of God". We can remove God's power because we gave it, so we can take it away. With a powerless God, evil is a function of "the void", the shadow we cast when we do not 'stand' directly under our 'light'. If we believe it is 'good' that we don't cast our shadow, then standing somewhat removed from the point directly under our 'light' and casting our shadow is somewhat less 'good', or the antonymous, more 'evil'. Our 'light', "the ideal reaction to the void", is "reaching out to the limits of our capacities, to others and to God." To the extent we "try to fill the void" which is determined by the length of the shadow we cast, we create 'evil'. Our freedom to choose where we stand is restricted by the shadow of humanity, the sum of our individual shadows. Today it is long. http://www.thelastwhy.ca/poem/

Saying evil comes from a failure of humans leaves God stillin the paradox. He created the system where we should make good choices, soeither he is malevolent or has made himself impotent. I watch the monstersbecause I want to see what people do when they are confronted with evil andconstrained with limited options. Then wonder if I would have done better.

It's fine to speculate about why masses of people do something (or what they get from doing something) as long as one owns it as such. Without some serious research/fieldwork such speculative musings should not be offered as facts.

Theodicy, Bah! That is language gone into outer space. Let's get down to real life here. When someone in anguish says to me, "Why did God let my partner die?" I do not launch into this dubious chatter of theodicy. I LISTEN to her PAIN! She turns to me because I represent part of hope the community nourishes for living life. I turn to her with an embrace and gently mobilize the parish community to embrace her as she works through her pain. When she no longer feels the need to ask the question she has been healed within and within her community. I am being logical here, but not trapped into abstraction.

Theodicy is a wide topic without very many answers. I believe evil all started with Adam and Eve, and according to the bible was certainly early in its arrival. The bible does say that some sins cause more damage and guilt than others do, and that all sin is not equally weighed. While there are no easy answers, I do feel that our free will is best considered and actions we should take in our decision making are best instructed with the seeking of God. I think that God can work any situation out for the good of his people. I don't necessarily think that God is limited in his powers. I believe he can do anything and is not impotent. I think that God uses our suffering, our misfortune and our less than graceful moments to draw us closer to him, and for us to seek him greatly for a relationship. There is no verse of scripture that says life will be a walk in the park. I myself certainly wonder about Karma and it affecting more than just the person involved. What if by some chance Karma could not only affect the person it "needs" to or is supposed to, but also a person bi-proxy so to speak? That does not sound like a fair concept.

Watching other people when placed into a situation where all odds look down and they look like they are going to fail, it peaks the interest of everyone else. Are they going to hit rock bottom and not get up or are they going to adapt and over come? It is something that people are faced with every day. I was raised by a GOD fearing woman and with that being said I strongly believe that GOD is omnipotent but he does not want to force our love for him. Love for him helps us distinguish what is the right thing and what is for evil. The love for him needs to come from us not to be forced this is why freewill is crucial. In my opinion evil comes from within and is not something that is spontaneous. If you look into any one that has committed a crime such as murder you can usually find something from there past such as neglect, abandonment, abuse, etc. I say that to say this that GOD loves you and will always love you. The bible states in proverbs 20:24 "A person's steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand there own way?" GOD can prevent evil. But he wants us to do whats right. He gave Adam and Eve the world. In Genisis 1:28 It says " God blessed them , and said to them , be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." So he created the world and gave it to us to do what is right we cant help that some people do things that are evil or immoral but that is what happened when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They then knew that what they were doing is good or it was evil. Freewill gives people the option of being good or doing evil.